Welp... talk to you later, Verengt... 🙁
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Transcript
Verengt: Then do not show me your TEETH.
Verengt turns away and leaves with their entourage. Talita is left shocked and alone, a hand over her mouth as if it wasn't too late to take it back.
138 thoughts on “Runaway to the Stars: Page 262”
Gabe
Ohhhh noo talita 😭 verengt is completely reasonable for reacting the way they did but man, what a gut punch for talita 💔 hopefully she’ll cry somewhere the centuars cant hear otherwise she might tank her reputation even more. I love how verengt’s entourage are all wide eyed in the background
dwemerDraconic
There’s something kind of… maybe not quite amusing for how frustrating it is, maybe ironic is a better term for it – on the handful of commenters getting up in arms and making very harsh, sweeping assumptions about this clan & centaur society at large based off of this /one/ interaction we’re seeing. As if a matriarch very sternly telling someone with mismatched social cues to knock that shit off (which could be as much for Verengt’s security as it is Talita’s! I saw another commenter rightfully pointing out that if she does the same around the Gwailer workers it might not end too well!) is somehow them being a horrible person, or means that all centaur clans/the society in general is strange and horrible because how dare they not have perfect understanding of a completely unprecedented situation they were made aware of, at best, maybe two-three minutes ago. Y’all haven’t forgotten most clans would choose to cull an abandoned centaur infant, right? The odds of this ever being something that’d be on ANYONE’S radar are insanely small.
Feels just a touch like the exact kinds of sweeping judgements Talita has had to deal with being leveled AT her, just being pointed in the other direction… X)
Either way, fantastic page as always. The framing of that last panel made my heart sink for Talita, what a nightmare of a situation to be in. Even if things do get cleared up between her and the rest of the clan I can imagine this is going to be stuck in her mind for months to come. Makes me wonder how Mel’s going to scramble their way out of this one… You might have had fantastic intentions there, bud, but we all know that saying about where assuming things gets you.
Vinemaple
I’m glad someone else sees it this way. It seems like this is the way fandom is, now: always with people loudly demonizing or running apologetics for one character or another, and refusing to see that character or others as complex and nuanced attempts to portray realistic people, who are complex and nuanced and often contradictory, with both deep flaws and redeeming qualities.
May
I am now wondering what was intended by “Do you intend to bite me”. At first, I took it as they were confused and wanted clarification. Now it looks like they definitely took it as an aggressive gesture, so I am wondering if they meant it as “I see you are challenging me. I won’t back down from a fight, so do you want to get physical or yield.”. They might actually still think think that Talita was testing if the clan was vulnerable to a takeover.
EricaMZDM
Yeah, I read this as more, like, “You wanna *get hit*? No? Then don’t *talk shit*.”
The teth-barrring is overtly agressive/insulting(think agressively flipping the bird), but wouldn’t *generally* be the prelude to an actual physical attack (again, like flipping the bird), buuuut – your new manager signing off the initial meet ‘n greet with the finger is still not something it’s wise or *safe* to just tolerate or excuse.
Quad
Aw… Talita… 🙁
I have mad respect for Verengt. They’ve been very cordial despite the circumstances. I hope their next interaction with Talita leaves off on a better note…
spess mureen
She (Verengt?) actually seems quite reasonable to me. That kind of reaction probably isn’t something she could easily control. Of course, she’s saying things which would shock Talita (and the reader), but that’s jus ta culture shock rather than a personality thing.
Siege
Oooof. Talita just had the “don’t point that thing at me if you’re not going to use it” card pulled on her. Yikes on bikes.
Horrible misunderstandings abound, but Verengt is still handling this situation INCREDIBLY diplomatically imo. They just had the cultural equivalent of a gun pointed at them and yet notice that they do not bare THEIR teeth in response at any point, because I’m sure that would be answering the “threat”. Instead, they use their words and calmly ask for clarification, and /very sternly warn Talita not to do that ever again/, because you know who might not have the level-headedness to not immediately meet that perceived threat? The workers.
However, the workers are still Verengt’s /adult children/. I’m not sure how centaurs handle “your mom” jokes but I feel if they hear about this I kinda doubt they’ll just take Talita basically threatening not only their matriarch but also their mother, on purpose or not, lying down? Would most /humans/? I hope Verengt tells the entourage to zip their yaps about this because I fear if this gets back to the workers, Talita might have eight much larger Adams with a vendetta on her hands very soon. I hope none of them try to jump her later for the slight or something.
Also, despite the clear agitation on their face I want to have hope this is Verengt still immediately pocketing new info (centaur raised by aliens has weird/confusing body language), but also the involuntary response on their part is completely understandable, and also warning Talita in NO uncertain terms that if she does it again there Will Be Consequences… a warning that Oopsie Teeth 2: Electric Boogaloo might not be so bloodless. Other centaurs Talita meets (like members of the clan, but not just them) likely won’t be as calm about a casual show of teeth like that. But that could easily just be me reaching and Verengt is reading this mess a completely different way.
I wonder if the clan only took this job because there was going to be a centaur manager, but nobody warned them said centaur was poorly socialized. C’: And well, the title… they’re gonna be Talita-less eventually.
Threethousandonehundredtwentysecond
Talita, a singleplayer over-buffed noob, who upon meeting new recruits for her sidequest guild she is going to be moderating, admits she has never used multiplayer before, and has in fact been solo-leveling her entire game. After clarifying she was not banned/kicked, she declines offers to join guilds accepting new party invites to keep grinding solo.
Then, in the pvp language well understood by online multiplayers, she presses the hotkeys that only a hostile player would use mid-chat to show they can one-shot you.
Talita randomly did a *equip weapon* *take aim* at the current guild mod.
(which, on her no-pvp server, are animations used to show the other players you’re friendly)
Threethousandonehundredtwentysecond
[xX_V3R3NGT_Xx](Gwailer Mod) Lvl. 47: are you threatening me?
[Talita1234] Lvl. 99: nO
[xX_V3R3NGT_Xx](Gwailer Mod) Lvl. 47: unequip your weapon then.
[Talita1234] Lvl. 99: sorry
[Talita1234] Lvl. 99: this is my first time playing this game
[Talita1234] Lvl. 99: im sso fuckign s.orry
Cobbington
lmao you’re a genius
dwemerDraconic
this is like the best analogy I’ve seen so far LMFAO props to you
J0RBITS
People have been misinterpreting Verengt’s “smile” within the past few pages, but I think this page especially shows just what it actually is. Verengt has been acting fairly cordially this entire conversation, albeit obviously confused and taken aback at times. Their trunk has been extended, even loosening their lips at times. When Verengt “smiles”, it’s during the more stressful valleys of the conversation. It’s apprehension, sneering – lips tightly pulled back, as opposed to relaxed (a real smile). From Verengt’s perspective, they’ve been confronted with an extremely strangely-behaved individual that acts almost threateningly. With Talita’s strange behavior, her sex, and her position as superior, this situation can easily be misinterpreted as an exile making a gambit for Matriarch.
Mel is a horrible, HORRIBLE boss. By being completely ignorant, Mel has put Talita in a potentially VERY, VERY dangerous position. Their negligence to explain Talita’s situation to the Gwailers could get her straight up killed.
Intet
Seems living in Centaur society kinda sucks.
I don’t get is why everyone here is blaming Talita or Mel to this extent. Yes both clearly could be a whole lot better researching and taking care to prevent offending anyone. They are far from blameless. But this society has all the signs of being extremely bigoted. Blaming people for how they are born and raised and then treating it as personal worth. What human society in this comic has seemingly gotten rid of. This is nothing to glorify. Treating intolerance with tolerance is being intolerant after all. I am sure we will see good aspects too and missunderstandings and judging a culture as an outsider has lots of trappings. I am looking foreward to potentially being proven wrong. But given what we know, living within centaur society seems like a very unpleasant time.
tickfleato
“What human society in this comic has seemingly gotten rid of.” What on earth gave you that impression?? A major part of the comic is about characters, particularly Talita and Gillie, navigating a society—human society—not built for them and at times actively hostile. And as for centaurs, I don’t think one can or should judge a culture based on a single, highly unusual interaction. If someone pulls a knife on you, I wouldn’t exactly call it *intolerant* to scold them for it. Just because someone told you a few minutes ago they were raised by wolves doesn’t mean you’re actually going to be prepared for them to behave in a strange and threatening way, and Verengt is handling it pretty well, all things considered.
FuzzySpiderPawz
I just…. What in the HELL made Mel think this was a good idea?????
Archieve
My theory…Money!, I suspect that despite the accommodation costs, 8 Centaur temp salaries is nowhere near as expensive as buying/maintaining another machine vehicle “workhorse”, Mel might have sold it to the higher ups as saving costs instead of investing in functional machinery.
tyrone
Ah yes. Good old Greed. the foundation of Human expanse and innovation..
God Bless….
FuzzySpiderPawz
Cause I’m sure Mel knows that Talita hasn’t been around many centaurs so she wouldn’t know what is and what isn’t appropriate to other centaurs so WHY did they think it was a good idea to make this a surprise leaving her NO TIME to prepare????????
Archieve
Combination of Mel expecting all Centaurs will get along and knowing Talita might object if she was given prior notice, I suspect.
FuzzySpiderPawz
If it is true that Mel didn’t tell Talita prior because they knew she would say no and waited to tell her when it was too late makes this so much more fucked up
Muse
you can just dump a bunch of random ferrets/avians/humans together and have them rrreeassonably get along so long as they all speak a language- at least get along enough to do a job. these centaurs can speak jovian english so surely talita’ll get along with them just as easily, they can talk out whatever differences they have, just like talita did with the other temps. :{D}
Gander of the Shinies
OH HELL IT ALL WENT TO SHIT
FuzzySpiderPawz
🙁
Martin
I cannot tell whether for centaurs Verengt is still smiling. Their trunk is still in the smiling position but the rest of the facial tension & body language idk. But it’s possible that they are not intending to express as meanly as we interpret it.
Martin
Having looked it up: nope! That’s not a happy face.
Tripping Hazard
Reading centaur expressions reminds me a little of reading dog body language because the same signal can mean wildly different things when taken as part of the whole. Like, most of the time a dog showing its teeth is snarling, but if its face and eyes are soft and the body is loose and wiggly, a dog showing teeth is engaging in a submissive display. Similarly, a trunk curled upward on a relaxed face and half-lidded eyes is a smile for a centaur based on diagrams folks are referencing in the comments, but a trunk curled up on a tense face and squinting eyes is not a smile at all (I’d guess frightened and/or angry). Verengt has their trunk curled very tightly in these panels, plus their nose is wrinkled—that’s a really tense expression.
Siege
You’d also probably quickly want the trunk out of the way if you think you might be getting into a biting match.
Napkinkat
Granted it’s the same for humans
Showing teeth for humans isn’t always a sign of happiness it can be used to signal agression, discomfort, or anger depending on the shape of the mouth and the rest of the face. We’re just wired to pick up on our own subtle expressions! I bet it’s hard for centaurs, other than Talita who has lived around humans her whole life, to tell the difference between a grimace and a smile. 😬 😁😀 (using smiling and grimacing emojis as an example that they’re quite similar even when heavily styleized to exaggerate the differences.)
c Senaru
The trunk tightly raised up out of the way of the mouth, not in a relaxed upward position, mixed with the fluffing and squinted eyes is a mixture of irritation and disgust. Look how tightly curled back it is in the prior page, reeling back and out of the way of the ‘I may need to defend myself’ zone. Emotions are complicated and fluidly moving things, so there might be more than just blanket disgust and irritation, but there’s about 0% happy happening here! It’d be like confusing a toothy snarl/grimace for a smile in people- while we don’t usually make such expressions nowadays, we certainly used to! In fact, a lot of cultures here on earth find the bared teeth smile of muricans to be off-putting- I’m one of them and honestly I agree lol. Kinda same for the ‘look me in the eyes while speaking’ thing- lots of places don’t do that like it’s pressed to do there.
Caloph
Rereading the last five pages – this all happened VERY quickly. Verengt saw their children’s new boss (who is also a centaur, how nice to see a friendly face, and they won’t have to explain centaur things to an alien supervisor ☺️), and walked over to introduce themself and their entourage. But the supervisor is clearly terrified of something, so they try and reassure her, and find out that she is a semi-feral “exile” (except not exactly because she wasn’t ousted, she’s *choosing* to live as an exile, which, what the fuck??), and during all of this while they’re trying to appear friendly and polite the boss is nearly scowling at them, then when they try to gracefully bow out of this insane social interaction to go process that THIS is who is going to be in charged of their children? Someone who is either being intentionally rude or doesn’t even care enough about their employees to learn the basics of their culture?, all of a sudden the supervisor stances up like she’s going for your throat, then acts surprised when you call out how unacceptable that is???? Yeah, I’d be pretty pissed, defensive, and DONE with the whole situation as well! From Verengt’s perspective, this social interaction is fucking CRAZY – until like 60 seconds ago they thought Talita was another skychaser nomad, and beyond that, as far as we know, Verengt and the other centaurs are under the very reasonable assumption that their new boss knew who they were and that they were coming, so even if they can integrate “strange edge-case raised by aliens” into their understanding of the situation in 60 seconds, that doesn’t excuse the new boss acting like she’s terrified of them, hates them, and wants to physically fight them? She presumably had *weeks* to look into Centaur culture and basic social decency if she wasn’t familiar with it, but she clearly didn’t do even that bare minimum. I think Verengt’s reaction of being hella pissed at the lack of cultural knowledge and walking away is completely reasonable under the incorrect but most plausible assumption that Talita is being incredibly, almost maliciously, ignorant and inconsiderate.
asmolfirefly
It sucks, because this whole interaction going so wrong is neither Verengt nor Talita’s fault!! It’s all Mel, and they aren’t even here to see the full extent of how much they fucked up!!!!!
Archieve
Easier to avoid the fallout of you actions if your not present! I suspect the real reason Mel wanted a “suprise” was so Talita couldn’t object or talk of quiting. Their taking advantage of her shy accommodating nature by denying her the chance to gracefully refuse since accommodations have already been built and the clan is already there, expecting her to be prepared.
SumB
we gotta send mel into solar orbit for this shit
moonbarking
Even WORSE speculation is out that Veregt is carrying young making them even more on edge. This is a situation made in hell. Thanks Mel!
creetur
The centaur polycule is angry at you 🙁
I’m hoping she can at least clear up why she smiles like that but.. oh dear
Foxqlove
It’s a super awkward situation for both parties I don’t blame either of them. Like, what would you do if some stranger you were being nice to suddenly squared up with you and threatened to attack you, like of course you’d say hey buddy back off don’t do that
Lilac
It’s like if she just pulled out a gun and pointed it at them and like not only that but someone of like “royal” (kind of??) status like okay even ignoring that second part I would probably be like ????? Why are you pointing a gun at me????? And then if they were like “omg sorry didn’t want to shoot you” and put the gun down you would still probably be a little like ?????? I’m scared dhfhds
And for some, fear is self defense is anger. So like all in all it makes total sense they react that way…… poor talita…….
rory
tbh i kinda hope verengt goes to mel and is like “omg she bared her teeth at me and she doesn’t even want a clan what is wrong with this person” so that mel can at least be vaguely aware of what they’ve done. (mel has a track record of not responding to stuff so im not worried about talita’s job here. then again i feel like they’d probably just go up to talita and be like “dont smile around the others!” and pretend that fixed it.)
Archieve
Most likely, avoidant types like Mel always expect the people pleaser to metaphoricaly starve dso everyone else can eat. I’m sure if Verengnt tells Mel their reservations with Talita Mels will not defend or explain Talitas body language one inch and just promise to “talk” (I.e. blame) her later.
Muse
god just imagining mel having that conversation where they blame talita (probably not outright but, yknow, the mel way™) pisses me off because it sounds very much like something they would do lmaoo
Filiya
Verengt, you’re too cruel! Even if you didn’t understand about the alien facial expressions, what if this person just has a nervous tic? The threat doesn’t match her words!
Ruby
Honestly? I don’t think Verengt’s speech matches their expression either.
Muse
how so? most of their expression is disgust/irritation, and earlier, shock. that matches pretty well with the barely-restrained instinctive response to having a ripped stranger pull a knife on them while sternly telling her not to threaten them again.
Archieve
In Centaur culture teeth are weapons so its a much more serious display then a nervous tick. Talita is not at fault in anyway but neigher is Verengnt for reacting to a universal Centaur threat. The cruelty here is all from Mel who lied by omission to both Talita and the Clan, then threw this on Talitas shoulders right after telling her an abusive temp was more important then her.
cypr
GODDAMN
Lilac
Talita is stronger than me I would’ve started crying and throwing up immediately
c Senaru
Well I don’t know about throwing up but Jay did say we’re going to see what Centaur crying looks like this chapter so I’m going to place the bet that following this interaction, poor Talita is likely going to have a crashout. I mean I certainly would, too- She thought she was getting through this interaction relatively free of too much othering, save for them offering her a clan she could marry into, but didn’t push her aside from letting her know she could change her mind if she wanted to later- All for it to suddenly crash down because she used a genuine smile, on reflex. Poor thing, she didn’t deserve this, and Verengt deserved to be told up-front by Mel at least the non personal aspects of Talita’s situation and means of emoting- if they’ve even realized that Talita emotes different. One would hope they would but honestly at this point I’m not even sure about that. Things were going to be awkward no matter what, and reflexive mistakes may even have been made no matter what, but at least they could have prepared the clan that she wasn’t clan raised. What a sad situation to be in for everyone- Except Mel, who is the root of the current issue. I’d hope they’d feel some amount of regret for things when Talita eventually Runs Away to the Stars, but somehow I suspect they will blame everyone except themselves.
Muse
i’m really hoping that at some point, when they have time to reflect on this whole mess of a situation and maybe talk to some others around the place, they’ll be allowed to connect the dots that humans are super toothy when they’re being friendly. or maybe mel will manage to accidentally mention she grew up with humans, specifically (since i know they’d never be so helpful as to purposefully mention it.)
planetixin
I feel sorry for you Talita. I would literally cry afterwards if it happened to me. And situations like this happen to me quite often.
Zii
Chat, are we cooked?
Gander of the Shinies
Yeah. We’re cooked to congratulations
Argon
Poor Talita. I suppose it makes sense for Centaur culture, you don’t need to move your mouth to talk when you speak from the trunk. As harsh as Verengt is being, it feels in line. As he’s used to it, he was just gravely threatened. Being harsh can come from both being shaken at receiving such a display and in the necessity of the lesson. Talita’s to look after their children, after all, in their mind it’s likely best they make this boundary known immediately and clearly.
And goodness, Mel… I believe I remember someone saying at the start of this comic that Mel never really seems to listen. Mel seems to prove them right again and again. It’s going to blow up in their face eventually, though I question if they’ll learn a lesson from it. I hope they do.
entguarde
Verengt uses they/them!
Argon
Thank you – I’d thought to look halfway through but hadn’t realized I’d already gotten it wrong earlier in my comment, I’ll need to be more aware in future.
Trees
I like the middle dad’s weird little hat thing.
HAL9000
these centaurs are dripped up to the max fr
Adrienne
Yeah not only did Talita have a miscommunication, she had a miscommunication with a fashion icon and their equally fabulous polycule. I think I’d launch myself into the sun
K
I wonder if Verengt acted so aggressively to Talita showing her teeth because now they know that Talita has no clan and has no desire to BE in a clan if an implicit negative bias toward clanless centaurs wasn’t altering their reading of the situation.
dwemerDraconic
It’s been mentioned very directly by Jay in one comment chain last page that to Verengt, this reads to them like a very inappropriate powerplay or something like it. Sort of a “Oh no I don’t have a clan. But you sure have a nice one :))))))” which given EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT. It is horribly impressive that they didn’t react more aggressively. I think Talita’s only saving grace here is the fact that she directly mentioned she was not raised by other centaurs.
Tye
I think it’s more likely that just showing your teeth is an aggressive action for most centaurs. They seemed nonchalant up until that moment. Even if Verengt is logically aware Talita is acting abnormally, reeling back at the possibility of getting bit would be a very normal reaction. When you sense danger, what can one think about except keeping themself safe? Since they speak with their trunks, there is no reason for a centaur to open their mouth except to eat or bite. Unless you’re Talita, and you’ve been taught to smile with teeth like a human.
P2Mc28
It would be rather shocking regardless of how you understood the slightly off person in front of you if they drew a weapon and pointed at you. Perhaps even more so if you just confirmed for yourself said person was slightly off.
P2Mc28
(this was meant to be @K rather than @Tye)
Grub
lowkey looking back at this page after seeing it on patreon I think it’ll all be fine. perhaps a little “that was rude, don’t do it again” at their next meeting, if this wasn’t sufficient. and not to say explanations fix all wounds but Verengt seems EXTREMELY reasonable and honestly pretty parental, I think they are more inclined to have understanding to Talita than not. Hopefully!!! Good luck girl!!
Bambi
My heart break for Talita, I just want one good thing to happen to her
Sleeb
I don’t think her explanation was harsh at all, if anything, she seems amused.
Morbidipea
I don’t think so. This reads to me as Verengt being, at minimum, highly irritated/defensive/disgusted.
pon
oh man this is actually miserable. this is my worst nightmare. i am so sorry talita. i would never be able to recover
Tentament
Aww I wanted to see Jachipt’s reaction
Eyes5
You’d think Verengt would be more understanding of a social faux pas, given how Talita just announced she was raised by aliens, all her weird non-centaur social tics she’s been exhibiting throughout the conversation, the otherwise pleasant context of their conversation, and that they’re the matriarch of a starchaser clan who’ve presumably dealt with, and enjoy dealing with other sophonts and all their exotic behavioral norms. I guess showing teeth is that strong and that rude of a cultural no-no.
I wish Talita would have the opportunity to explain herself and smooth things over with the seemingly reasonable Verengt, but I suppose that’s not where the story is going.